Door-hanger.



No. 772,221. PATENTED OCT. 11, 1904.

- J. ORAMER.

DOOR HANGER.

, APPLICATION FILED JULY 29.1903. RENEWED SEPT. 16.1904.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEBTfi-BHEET l.

I INVENTOR Lfok n b azfler ATTORNEYS 1 No. 772,221. PATENTED OCT. 11,1904.

J. GRAMER. D002 HANGER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 29.1903. RENEWED SEPT. 16,1904.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES,"

' hanger.

UNITED STATES Patented October 11, 1904.

PATENT OEEIcE.

JOHN ORAMER, LIMA, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND THOMAS B.

' JOHNS, OF LIMA, OHIO.

DOOR-HANGER.

I SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 772,221,dated-October 11, 1904.

Application filed July 29, 1903. Renewed September 16, 1904. Serial No.224,681. (No model.)

To all whom/it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN ORAMER, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Lima,

in the county of Allen and State of Ohio, have invented a new' andImproved Door-Hanger, of Which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription. This invention relates to improvements in door-hangersespecially designed for use on inside doors; and among other objects myinvention seeks to provide an improved construction wherein the door maybe easily adjusted without tearing away the woodwork, the parts are notliable to get out of order when properly installed and adjusted,thewheels run truly and practically noiselessly on the track, the wheelscannot jump the track by a sudden jolt, sidewise movement of the door isminimized, it is not necessary to leave a wide space or opening in thehead-jamb for the travel of the hanger, and the parts are simple,durable, and easily placed in position. i

, Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear in thecourse of the subjoined description and the novelty will be defined bythe annexed claims. Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings,forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters ofreference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

- Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing a pair ofinside doors, one of which is suspended by devices embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is asectional plan view, on an enlarged scale, theplane of the section being indicated by thevdotted line 2 2 of Fig. 4.Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical transverse section taken in the plane ofthe dotted line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional elevationthrough certain parts of the improved Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation onthe line 5 5 of Fig. 4, the arm and the shaft thereof being inelevation. Fig. 6 is adetail enlarged view of one of the plurality oftrack-carriers.

A indicates the head-jambs of an ordinary door-frame, said jambs beingspaced to provide a slot (4 between their contiguous edges, said slotbeing very narrow and extending the full length of the door-opening. Tothe headjambs are secured the head-moldings b, between which is arrangedto travel the upper edge of a suspended door B. The wall O around thedoor-opening is constructed in the usual way toprovide a chamber orspace D above the head-jambs A for the accommodation of a track andhanger in accordance with my invention. In the upper part of thischamber D is secured a fixed bar or rail E, the same being adapted tosupport a plurality of trackcarriers 5. These track-carriers areprovided at their upper ends with angular flanges 6, adapted to bebolted or otherwise fastened to the under surface of the supporting railor bar E, said track-carriers being spaced at proper intervals along therail E and depending therefrom within the chamber D.

Each track-carrier is preferably cast in a single piece of metal and inthe shape shown more particularly by Figs. 1 and 6, from which it willappear that the track-carrier is bifurcated or forked to produce thelegs 7, having an inward bend 8 and terminating in foot-flanges 9. Theseries of carriers 5 support a horizontal track-rail 10,.the sameconsisting of a length of wood of a suitable nature, such as hard maple.The upper and lower edges of this longitudinal track-rail are rounded orcurved, as indicated at 11, and

said wooden rail is reinforced or strengthened by'the employment ofmetallic plates 12, the latter being applied to the respective faces ofthe wooden rail and lying between the upper and lower curved edges 11thereof. The reinforcement-plates 12 extend longitudinally of the woodenrail, and they are fastened thereto by any suitable means, such as byscrews or bolts.

The foot-flanges 9 of the seriesof carriers 5 are applied laterallyagainst one side of the carrier-rail or one of the reinforcement-stripsl2, and these flanges of the carriers are secured firmly to thecarrier-rail by bolts or other fasteners, whereby the track-rail issupported securely in place by the series of carriers to occupy asubstantially central position within the chamber D and to extendlongitudinally thereof for the desired length, said rail serving as asupport for the doors B in the opened and closed positions thereof.

Each door is supported from the track-rail by a plurality of hangers,two of which are shown in connection with the door of Fig. 1. Eachhanger of the series contemplates "the employment of a wheeled frameadapted to travel on the track and adjustable suspension devicesconnected with said wheeled frame and with the door, which is to besuspended therefrom. The wheeled frame of each hanger consists of a pairof vertical yokes 13 14c and a guard member 15, the latter beingarranged in a horizontal position below the track-rail and the lowerends of the yokes 13 14 being fastened rigidly to said guard member, asshown more clearly by Figs. 1 and 3. The yolaes 13 14 are disposed atone side of the track-rail 10, so the upper ends of the yokes willoverhang said rail. The guard member 15, which is disposed below thetrack-rail, has its end portions bent or curved upwardly at 16, the samebeing provided at their upper ends with grooves 17, arranged to snuglyreceive the lower rounded edge of the track-rail 10. From thisdescription it will be seen that the yokes and the guard member arefastened securely to form a hanger-frame, and this guard member has itsend portions fitted to have underrunning engagement with the track-railin a way to minimize swaying of the hanger in a lateral direction and tolimit the upward movement of the hanger-frame with relation to thetrack-rail, thus preventing the wheels of the hanger from becomingdisplaced on the upper edge of the rail 10.

The upper curved ends of the hanger-yokes 13 14: are enlarged orexpanded, as indicated at 17 for the reception of transverse arbors orspindles 18, on which are adapted to travel the grooved wheels 19. Thesegrooved wheels fit snugly to the upper curved edge of the track-rail10,and they lie between the expanded portions 17 of the hanger-yokes,thus making provision for the employment of ballbearings 20 between thelateral faces of the wheels 19 and the expanded portions 17 of thehanger-yokes, whereby the side friction between the wheels andthehanger-framework is minimized.

The upper edge of the door B is provided with a cavity or chamber Z) andwith a recess 6 In the cavity or chamber 6 is arranged a gear casing orhousing 21, having a plate or flange 22, arranged to partly occupy therecess 6 Over this flanged edge of the gearcasing 21 is applied ametallic hanger-plate 23, the latter being secured rigidly with thegear-casing to the top edge of the door B by screws or any othersuitable fasteners.

The guard member 15 of the wheeled hangerframe is provided at pointsbetween its upturned ends 16 with female-threaded openings 24 25, one ofthe openings being provided with a right-hand thread and the other witha lefthand thread. The hanger-plate 23 is provided with openings 26,which are in alinement vertically with the openings 2 1 25, and in theseopenings are arranged the spindles 27 28, said spindles passing looselythrough the openings 26 of the hanger-plate 23 and having threadedengagement with the suspended guard member 15 of the hanger-frame. Oneof the spindles is provided with a right-hand thread for a part of itslength, while the other spindle has a left-hand thread for a part of itslength. The guard member 15 of the wheeled hangerframe is provided withtwo holes, which are respectively formed with right-hand threads andleft-hand threads, and into these holes are screwed the respectivespindles 27 28. These spindles 27 28 are provided with heads 29 at theirlower ends, said lower portions of the spindles being arranged withinthe gear-casing 21, as shown by Figs. 4 and 5. The spindles are providedwith wormgears 30 31, which are made fast therewith at points directlyabove the heads 29, and these wormgears are provided with extendcd hubs32, having ball-races for the accommodation of bearing-balls 33, thelatter being disposed for.

engagement with the under face of the fixed hanger-plate 23.

34 designates an adjusting-arbor which is arranged in a horizontalposition between the two spindles 27 28, one end portion of said arbor 31 being journaled in a side of the gearhousing 21, as shown by Figs. 2and 5, while the other end of said adjusting-arbor is extended throughthe gear-casing 21 and to a point flush with the door B on one sidethereof. The fiush end of this adjusting-arbor is provided with a nickor slot 35, adapted to receive a screw-driver or other implement,whereby the arbor may be conveniently turned without tearing away any ofthe parts of the door. This arbor carries a worm-sleeve 36, which isprovided with a worm 37, the latter having intermeshing engagement withthe wormgears 30 31 on the spindles 27 28, said worm 37 being disposedbetween and meshing equally with the worm gears.

The weight of the door is borne by the pairs of spindles 27 28 of thewheeled hangers, and the spindles of each pair have right and leftthreaded engagement with the wheeled frame and ball-bearing engagementwith the hanger-plate 23, which is fixed to the top edge of the door.The employment of the wormgearing 'and the threaded engagement of thespindles with the hanger-frame are advantageous in this particularrelation, because the parts act against one another, and they areprevented from turning out of position accidentally on the movement ofthe door, said worm-gearing and the threaded engagein their operativepositions, so that they will not turn accidentally.

If it is desired to raise or lower the door,

the operator turns the arbor 34 in one direction or the other for thepurpose of turning the worm, which imparts movement to the Worm-gears 3O31 and to the suspension-spin dles 27 28, the latter being screwed intothe guard member 15 of the wheeled frame. The several parts comprisingmy improved doorhanger are locked, so that they will maintain thepositions in which they are adjusted so long as the walls of thebuilding or the parts or the door do not. become displaced; but if thewall or the door gets out of plumb through settling of the structure theoperator is able to easily and quickly restore the door to a plumbcondition by turning the adjusting-arbor 34E, access to which can easilybe obtained because it is flush with the door.

Having thus described my invention, Iclaim as new and desire tosecure byLetters Patent 1. In a door-hanger, the combination with a wheeled frameand-a door-fixture, of suspension-spindles provided with threadsofopposite hand and screwed individually in said wheeled frame, means forconnecting said suspension spindles with a door, worm gears fixedindividually to said spindles, and an interposed worm meshing with bothgears and operable to lock the spindles against rotation and serving asa means for simultaneously rotating the spindles in opposite directions.

2. In a door-hanger, the combination with a traveling frame, of adoor-fixture, spindles having threads of opposite hand and engagingoperatively with the frame and with the door-fixture, and an operatingdevice geared to said spindles for simultaneously rotating them.

3. In a door-hanger, the combination with a door-fixture, and a wheeledframe, of right and left threaded spindles each screwed into said frame,worm-gears fixed individually to said spindles and having ball-bearingengagement with the door-fixture for cooperation therewith and with thespindles in sustaining the weight of the door, and a worm meshing withsaid worm-gears for simultaneously rotating the spindles in oppositedirections.

4. In a door-hanger, a traveling frame comprising yokes, a guard membercoupling said yokes, shoes at the ends of the guard member, and wheelsmounted in the yokes above the guard member and the shoes, combined witha track on which the wheels are adapted to travel and with which theshoes have underrunning engagement.

5. In a door-hanger, the combination witl a track, of upright yokesprovided with wheels arranged to travel on said track, and a guardmember uniting said yokes below the track, said guard member havingoflset ends forming shoes disposed for underrunning engagement with thetrack.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN GRAMER.

Witnesses:

WM. E. REILLY, T. B JoHNs.

